Redford's Tories under attack by opposition at opening of spring session

Alberta Premier Alison Redford will table a budget a on Thursday and many economists believe a provincial sales tax makes a lot of sense for the province.

Photograph by: Jeff McIntosh
, THE CANADIAN PRESS

EDMONTON — The Alberta legislature spring sitting opened Tuesday with opposition MLAs accusing the PC government of losing the trust of Albertans through poor fiscal management and a string of scandals and broken promises.

The attack on the credibility of Premier Alison Redford’s Conservatives began with Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith’s opening statement and continued through questions from all three opposition parties.

It stemmed from a new ThinkHQ poll published Monday, that suggested only 29 per cent of Albertans approve of the Tory performance when it comes to “being a government that citizens can trust.” Redford has only a 33 per cent approval rating while 58 per cent disapprove of her performance.

Smith noted in her statement the government is the subject of four investigations into its conduct, including probes into illegal fundraising, health care queue jumping, privacy breaches and allegations of conflict of interest in the contract to a major tobacco litigation firm.

Smith told the legislature trust is the sacred foundation of everything politicians do and if they lose it, they won’t keep their seats long.

“It all comes back to trust and credibility,” Smith told the legislature. “You can only say one thing and do another for so long until you start to lose both. My advice to the premier is this: ‘Don’t promise what you can’t deliver and what you do promise, make sure you do it.”

Redford told reporters before entering the legislature she doesn’t put much weight in polls, but her government will demonstrate it is prudent, accountable and responsible when it tables the budget Thursday.

“From my perspective, I think Albertans did put their trust in us last year,” she said. “These are challenging times and I think we will make the choices that reflect their priorities.”

In the House, Redford criticized the tone of Smith’s questions and retorted that the opposition is stuck on “extremism and ideology” and doesn’t understand how to build a government that provides services to Albertans, continues to invest in families and communities and is prudent with taxpayer’s dollars.

“I’m awfully sorry if my tone is hurting the premier’s feelings,” Smith responded. “Running balanced budgets isn’t an issue of being right wing or left wing. It’s an issue of being competent.”

In another fiery exchange over Medevac services being from Edmonton’s downtown airport to the International Airport south of the city, the premier accused the opposition of fearmongering and trying to scare people. Redford also accused Smith of “wasting time in the legislature” which her questions.

When Liberal Leader Raj Sherman stated the Conservative government’s move from a progressive tax to a flat tax has left the province “broke” Redford said the province was not broke and his insinuation was “ridiculous.”

“What is ridiculous is that in a boom they can’t balance the budget,” retorted Sherman.

NDP Leader Brian Mason told the legislature that Albertans can’t trust the PC government to keep its election promises.

“During the election the PCs made many promises to improve health care, including 140 new family care clinics and 5,000 new long-term care spaces,” he said. “But while they promised there wouldn’t be service cuts to health care we’ve already seen layoffs and cutbacks across Alberta. Considering that her government will not deliver a throne speech to outline their priorities, can the premier explain why she has already broken her health care promises to Albertans?”

Redford said that may be Mason’s perception, but it isn’t the reality.

“The fact is that we as a government are continuing to invest in the services that matter to Albertans, including health care and including education.”

Redford told reporters she decided not to have a throne speech to set out the government plans because Alberta’s fiscal crisis demands the government address impact of the projected $6 billion shortfall of non-renewable resource revenue on this year’s budget.

“We need to focus on the fiscal situation and it is important for us to carry on the work we started last year,” she said.

The premier was also questioned during the three-minute scrum why the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, which pointed out that MLAs were being paid thousands of dollars for sitting on a committee that never met, has been banned from the budget lockup this year.

“There’s lots of different opportunities for dialogue with respect to the budget,” she said. “I have no doubt the Canadian Taxpayers Federation will comment on the budget fully and freely whether they are in the lockup or not.”

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